THE POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF COMBINED READING ACTIVITIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SILENT READING RATE

This study aims to find the effects of assisted and unassisted repeated reading activities (combined reading activities) on the development of beginner and pre-intermediate adult L2 learners’ reading fluency and find out which proficiency level benefits more from the combined reading activities. The participants of the study are 16 beginner and 19 pre-intermediate L2 university learners. Sixteen reading passages (eight for beginner level and eight for pre-intermediate) were chosen for the study. The sessions lasted five weeks. The participants first read the text and recorded their time (unassisted reading). Then the passage was read along with the audiotape for the second, third, and fourth times (assisted reading). The participants read the text three times more and the last reading was again recorded (unassisted reading). The first and the last readings were used as pre and post-tests. The findings suggest that both groups developed their reading rate while pre-intermediate group benefited more from the treatment.Keywords: reading rate, assisted reading activities, unassisted reading activities, proficiency leve